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In This Issue
* While the Smoke Clears
* Icy Raku Sweet Spot
* Stop Cracking Slabs
Raku Bisquing
Raku Beading Glaze
Raku and Alcohol (no not Booze!)
Raku Links
Workshops ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
* While the Smoke Clears * Hello again. Well I almost made it. I almost got the June issue out during June. I'll try to be better for the July issue, but it will be tough as I have several projects on my plate right now. I'm pretty excited. If you have a copy of the new Axner Pottery catalog, take a look in the books section and you'll see my Raku Glazes and Raku Secrets books are now available. If you don't have it handy you can see them on line at: http://www.pottery-books.com/axner/books/p617.php
and: http://www.pottery-books.com/axner/books/p615.php As always, I look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Here is an easy (and free) way to support this newsletter. Open a new eBay account by clicking on the link below and select "register" at the top of the screen. Then look for a deal and bid. Your support is greatly appreciated! http://www.qksrv.net/click-411938-2202639
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by Michael H. I have noticed several requests for help that all stem from applying glazes too heavy, underfiring, or overfiring. I thought I would share a visual tip. First, I fire in a 55 gallon barrel lined with fiber, one peep hole, two shelves, and I use a single Raku burner from Ward Burners, a fairly basic setup. I fire multiple pieces with different glazes, all of which mature at different
points. I use no pyrometers or cones; it is all done by eye (don't get too close to the peep hole or you'll loose your eyebrows - gotta buy one of those face shields some day). What you need to do is really observe how the glazes behave as they are heating, knowing the stages each glaze goes through on the clay body helps identify the perfect
maturity of the firing. Some glazes bubble up, pop, pit, etc., and then seem to flow together. Others will begin to change colors and go from matt to shiny. Others will begin to run. What you are looking for can best be described as "seeing the sun reflecting in melted water on the surface of a frozen pond." When you see just that sheen (the "Raku sweet spot") the glaze is mature and ready to be plucked from the fire and put into reduction. For those of you in the "hot" areas that never see iced ponds take a cake pan and freeze a block of ice. Take it from the freezer and set it in the sun. Come back in about 1/2 hour and position yourself so that the sun reflects on the water - that's what you are looking for. Try it before you start firing next time. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
If you are interested in making a little extra money for taking on-line surveys, click on the link below. Go to http://www.surveysavvy.com/?id=1424287 and click on 'Join'.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Stop Cracking Slabs * My challenge at this time is I'm loosing about a third of my bowls. I make large, irregular slab bowls and lots
of them are breaking. I don't know if I'm loosing them in the kiln or the reduction but too many of them crack. Do you have any ideas for a fix? Libby K. I do have a few thoughts and suggestions that may help. First, make sure you are wedging you clay really well before you start your slab work. You might want to even try wedging in some Kyanite. Kyanite is the "miracle" component to make almost any clay Raku worthy. You may also want to Raku fire a little slower, especially if the bowls are large so the temperature difference from top to bottom or from one side to the other is not very great. You may also want to fire them standing on edge. This can reduce the stress and also make them easier to remove from the kiln with tongs later. Finally I would leave them in the reduction chamber for 30+ minutes and then if you finish cooling with water make sure the whole piece is quenched at the same time, again so one part of the piece is not cooling faster than another. Hope this helps. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Raku: A Practical Approach by Steven Branfman
The "nuts and bolts" how-to book of Raku
Order 30% off at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/branfman
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Raku: A Practical Approach by Steven Branfman
The "nuts and bolts" how-to book of Raku
Order 30% off at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/branfman
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Raku Bisquing * Is it possible, and reasonable, to do bisque firings in a Raku kiln. Brad F. It definitely is possible. You just want to try an follow a normal bisque firing schedule - low and slow for several hours and then a slow climb to the final bisque temperature and then a slow cooling period. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Books, Music, Videos and that's just the start. Amazon sells more than books! Help support this newsletter by using this link: http://www.garyrferguson.com/amazon
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Raku Beading Glaze * Two weeks ago, I attended a pottery sale at the Community Center here. One of the artists had on display some of her Raku work. Several of her pieces had a Raku glaze on it that seemed to bead all over the work. Have you ever seen or heard of such a glaze, my wife wanted to try it out, but was a little shy to ask the potter if she would share the recipe. Ron There are two "Beads" recipes in my Raku Glazes ebook http://www.rakuglazes.com, which are copied below. I have not tried either of these recipes yet, but they seem to indicate what you are after. Let me know what results you get. Beads Magnesium Carbonate 31.25
Borax 25
Gerstley borate 31.25
Flint 6.25
Zircopax 6.25 Glass Bead Raku
Gerstley Borate 50
Borax 40
Flint 10
Magnesium Carbonate 50
Zircopax 10 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
"Bought your book - great compendium!"
http://www.rakuglazes.com
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"Bought your book - great compendium!"
http://www.rakuglazes.com
~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Raku & Alcohol (no not Booze) * I recently went to an art festival where a Raku artist Bruce Odell was doing a Raku demonstration, which was cool, and different from any I've seen. His pots had clear
crackle and a copper luster glaze. When he took it out of the kiln. He left it in the open air for a few minutes to get the clear crackle process started, then he sprayed a mixture of what he said was alcohol, corn oil, and water on the pot to somehow initiate the copper coloration process. He had a tub of coarse sawdust which he made a hole it then put the pot in it and covered it up to the hole in the top and after a few minutes of full reduction he started moving around the sawdust and exposing parts of the pot to air to "selectively" paint with the copper achieving whatever color he wanted wherever he wanted. I've never seen anyone exercise this type of control over the reduction and copper coloration process. I recently bought some denatured alcohol that I saw in an explanation of what Charlie Riggs used in his copper matt
reduction process. So, I have assumed that Bruce Odell was using denatured alcohol in his mix but I don't know percentages of the mixture. I'm a little hesitant to just mix some denatured alcohol, corn oil and water in whatever amount and spray a red hot Raku pot with it. I'd like to
continue to live for a while yet. You wouldn't happen to have heard of this and know what the mix would be for this? Was thinking of trying this with the Copper Luster II recipe from your glaze recipe ebook since it calls for sawdust reduction. Have any ideas on this technique? PS. Here is a link describing Charlie Rigg's Technique:
http://www.potters.org/subject15943.htm Regards,
Brian D. I have not actually used alcohol in my reduction process yet,but I have talked to a couple of potters that have. It is my understanding they used just the alcohol in a sprayer and this created the reduction process. I would imagine that mixing the alcohol, water, and oil together would add to the variability because I don't think these mix well together and would have different impacts on the reduction process. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Raku Pottery by Robert Piepenburg The must have "Bible" of Raku http://www.garyrferguson.com/piepenburg
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Click Away * My eBay Listings http://tinyurl.com/tn08
Just Raku Blog http://justraku.blogspot.com
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Just Raku Archive http://www.JustRaku.com ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Raku - John Mathieson http://tinyurl.com/3f5yh
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Workshops, Ads, etc. * Please let me know of any Raku workshops in your area. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Raku: Investigations Into Fire by David Jones
Order 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5x
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JUST RAKU (C) Copyright 2002-2005 Gary R. Ferguson
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